Learning Outcomes

* Gain experience of working within a team in a more effective way via the experience and theory gained during the programme

* Focus on their personal development with regards to their managerial skills

* Critically assess their own and their colleagues managerial skills performance

* Further their knowledge in the theory of team-building, interpersonal communication, leadership and other skills related topics and be able to utilise this knowledge in a practical and efficient manner

* Focus on a specific company/organisation/institution or Management related issue/problem and equip themselves with an increased knowledge and understanding of this field with respect to the four key areas of business outlined previously.

* Gain an awareness of the professional and academic literature available by researching the subject area prior to the writing of the report

* Gain further knowledge and experience by working with the module co-ordinator and/or practitioner during both the research and writing-up stages of the project

* Write the project conclusion in a form consistent with the typical 'management report' format employed in business and industry

Brief description

The Report should not simply describe the company/organisation/institution (although aspects of the Report will inevitably provide some description of, for instance, financial data and product-market strategy); examiners will seek to specifically award grades to students that address the following:
1. Critical analysis of the company/organisational/institutional situation
2. Demonstrate the use of tools, techniques, frameworks and analytical approaches to diagnose the company/organisational/institutional situation
3. Demonstrate an appreciation of 'time' illustrating the dynamic elements involved in strategic and organisational evolution (students are strongly recommended to consider the longitudinal issues over time rather than purely adopt a static viewpoint of the issues today).
4. Use appropriate referencing (both managerial and academic sources) so as to anchor analyses to literature rather than make the project self-opinion-based.

Students should appreciate that this assignment is deliberately broad. There is no definitive structure and the scope given in the brief above is designed as integral to the assessment process. This latitude provides an opportunity for students to compile the most incisive report that analyses the company/organisational/institutional situation. An implicit part of the assessment is that students devise the structure that they feel is most appropriate to their critical analysis.

Aims

The main aims of the module are to:

Bring together the knowledge and practical experience acquired (regarding the subject of managerial skills and the managerial skills ability of the student and their team) from the Masters programme.

Bring together the knowledge and practical experience acquired during Management Skills events (such as communication workshops, leadership weekends and team-building activities) that are held during the relevant masters programme and apply it in the production of the report.

Use the professional and academic literature to extend their knowledge and add to the depth of coverage during the report writing.

To utilise the existing professional and academic literature and their practical business/management experience (where relevant) in order to critically evaluate their personal managerial skills related performance and development as well as that of their team members.